Top 50 Greatest Players

[FKASJU]

http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id...-greatest-college-basketball-players-all-time

From Chuck Kolsterman of Grantland. Walter Berry @ #6, but no Mullin. Khalid El-Amin and Jerome Lane made the list ....joke.

Southpaw was one of the only people to be the best player on two separate collegiate levels — he had one of the greatest JUCO seasons ever at Jacinto and was a Wooden Award winner for St. John's. He also had the craziest scoring attacks of the '80s — he ignored his right hand completely, whirled incessantly, and showed supreme disinterest in developing anything as dull as a jump shot. He electrified every college game he played, but — of course — was not designed for the orthodoxy of the NBA. Larry Brown tried to unlock his insanity for the Spurs in 1988, and it did not take. "He's a fundamentally sound coach," Berry told a reporter at the time, "and my game does not consist of fundamentals."

 

[redken]

Relax. The writer clearly states "the individual's college career must be more meaningful than his pro career" and that his game had to a unorthodox quality about it. So joining Chris Mullin as a non-qualifier (per the writer's criteria) are the likes of fellow NBA HOFers Larry Bird, Jerry West, Oscar Robertson, et al. Kareem was unquestionably the most dominant player to ever play the college game, whereas in the NBA he was only one of the most dominant players.  

 

[sookjo]

Relax. The writer clearly states "the individual's college career must be more meaningful than his pro career" and that his game had to a unorthodox quality about it. So joining Chris Mullin as a non-qualifier (per the writer's criteria) are the likes of fellow NBA HOFers Larry Bird, Jerry West, Oscar Robertson, et al. Kareem was unquestionably the most dominant player to ever play the college game, whereas in the NBA he was only one of the most dominant players.  

This list is a joke.....If Kareem is number 1 on this list....where is Patrick Ewing, he was the most dominating collegiate player in the last 30 years

 

[crgreen]

Relax. The writer clearly states "the individual's college career must be more meaningful than his pro career" and that his game had to a unorthodox quality about it. So joining Chris Mullin as a non-qualifier (per the writer's criteria) are the likes of fellow NBA HOFers Larry Bird, Jerry West, Oscar Robertson, et al. Kareem was unquestionably the most dominant player to ever play the college game, whereas in the NBA he was only one of the most dominant players.  

This list is a joke.....If Kareem is number 1 on this list....where is Patrick Ewing, he was the most dominating collegiate player in the last 30 years

 

Okay. Non New Yorker here. But you honestly consider the 15pt 9 rebound 1 title Ewing the most dominating collegiate player in the last 30 years? REALLY???? Wow. 7'0 SINGLE DIGIT COLLEGIATE REBOUNDER.

 

[sookjo]

with all due respect.....Patrick was in 3 title games and was the most intimidating collegiate player I've ever seen.

My point that Patrick's college career was superior to his very good pro career and yet he did not make the Top 50 on this list.....it's absurd.

P.S. -- I'm not comparing him to Kareem

 

[austour]

 You guys are seriously debating the merits of a college basletball player column by Chuck Klosterman? Next we'll be seeing heated debate over that history of rap column by Donald Rumsfeld.

 

[McGarry2]

No Bill Russell, no Wilt, no Oscar, no Jerry it is not April 1st is it. 

 

[cavalier86]

 Ewing was dominate in the NBA. named one of the 50 greastest players of all time.

 

[redken]

Patrick Ewing won one -- one -- championship as a collegian. Given the criteria set by the writer, that simply doesn't qualify him as a player whose collegiate career outweighs his professional career (even though Ewing went ring-less in the NBA).  

Again relax! It's one man's opinion based on the parameters he set.  

 

[bamafan]

This is like trying to prove a negative or it is like a double negative. The whole exercise makes my head hurt. :angry:  

 

[redken]

This is like trying to prove a negative or it is like a double negative. The whole exercise makes my head hurt. :angry:  

 

Bamafan, after tonight's loss to LSU, I imagine your head is hurting even more. (Condolences!) 

 

[crgreen]

Relax. The writer clearly states "the individual's college career must be more meaningful than his pro career" and that his game had to a unorthodox quality about it. So joining Chris Mullin as a non-qualifier (per the writer's criteria) are the likes of fellow NBA HOFers Larry Bird, Jerry West, Oscar Robertson, et al. Kareem was unquestionably the most dominant player to ever play the college game, whereas in the NBA he was only one of the most dominant players.  

 

Lost me when he included VMI's Reggie Williams (and don't get me wrong, I'm a HUGE fan of Reggies!) - over Kentucky States Travis "The Machine" Grant. For those that don't recall the Machine - his 4 years at K-State:

Fr: 26.6 pts, 9.3 rebs
So: 35.4 pts, 9.0 rebs
Jr: 31.2 pts, 9.1 rebs
Sr: 39.5 pts, 9.9 rebs.

He was a 6'7-6'8 combo forward. Which makes his career 64% FG even more remarkable. His Soph year, when he put up 35.4 pts per game, he hit SEVENTY percent from the floor....he even managed to dish out 300 assists in his college career. Reggie, I love ya, but our writer doesn't really know his hoops history. David Rivers, when there are guys like Mel Counts out there?

 

[bamafan]

This is like trying to prove a negative or it is like a double negative. The whole exercise makes my head hurt. :angry:  

 

Bamafan, after tonight's loss to LSU, I imagine your head is hurting even more. (Condolences!) 

 
Thanks it certainly was a tough loss but at this stage of my life I realize you can't win them all and it is great to have Saban and be a contender every year and have perennial top 5 recruiting classes.

 

[beast of the east]

The guy is an idiot in his analysis of Walter Berry. Berry had a decent mid range jumper, hardly needed a right hand since he was unstoppable lef handed. He also could score in the NBA. After he won the Wooden award, however, Red Auerbach was on a talk how discussing the upcoming draft. When asked about Berry, he totally dismissed him, saying, he doesn't play defense. Berry slipped to the mid-late first round. However, he wasn't a washout in the NBA. After averaging 40 plus points per game in Europe, he was making $5 million a year. Even though NBA teams showed interest in him coming back, there was no way he was going to consider anything other than serious guaranteed money. The NBA wasn't about to offer that, and Berry stayed put, earning millions along the way.

http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/7185970/page/2/the-50-greatest-college-basketball-players-all-time

From Chuck Kolsterman of Grantland. Walter Berry @ #6, but no Mullin. Khalid El-Amin and Jerome Lane made the list ....joke.

Southpaw was one of the only people to be the best player on two separate collegiate levels — he had one of the greatest JUCO seasons ever at Jacinto and was a Wooden Award winner for St. John's. He also had the craziest scoring attacks of the '80s — he ignored his right hand completely, whirled incessantly, and showed supreme disinterest in developing anything as dull as a jump shot. He electrified every college game he played, but — of course — was not designed for the orthodoxy of the NBA. Larry Brown tried to unlock his insanity for the Spurs in 1988, and it did not take. "He's a fundamentally sound coach," Berry told a reporter at the time, "and my game does not consist of fundamentals."

 

 

[austour]

The guy is an idiot in his analysis of Walter Berry. Berry had a decent mid range jumper, hardly needed a right hand since he was unstoppable lef handed. He also could score in the NBA. After he won the Wooden award, however, Red Auerbach was on a talk how discussing the upcoming draft. When asked about Berry, he totally dismissed him, saying, he doesn't play defense. Berry slipped to the mid-late first round. However, he wasn't a washout in the NBA. After averaging 40 plus points per game in Europe, he was making $5 million a year. Even though NBA teams showed interest in him coming back, there was no way he was going to consider anything other than serious guaranteed money. The NBA wasn't about to offer that, and Berry stayed put, earning millions along the way.

http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/7185970/page/2/the-50-greatest-college-basketball-players-all-time

From Chuck Kolsterman of Grantland. Walter Berry @ #6, but no Mullin. Khalid El-Amin and Jerome Lane made the list ....joke.

Southpaw was one of the only people to be the best player on two separate collegiate levels — he had one of the greatest JUCO seasons ever at Jacinto and was a Wooden Award winner for St. John's. He also had the craziest scoring attacks of the '80s — he ignored his right hand completely, whirled incessantly, and showed supreme disinterest in developing anything as dull as a jump shot. He electrified every college game he played, but — of course — was not designed for the orthodoxy of the NBA. Larry Brown tried to unlock his insanity for the Spurs in 1988, and it did not take. "He's a fundamentally sound coach," Berry told a reporter at the time, "and my game does not consist of fundamentals."

 

 

The guys a humorist and pop culture afficionado, not Howard Cosell. Not sure what you guys would expect from him or are getting so worked up about. But your revisionist history of how and why Berry ended up finding his great success in Europe is equally humorous.

 

[bamafan]

Walter averaged 28-29 pts in a 3 game playoff series while playing for I believe San Antonio against the Lakers. IMO he did not stick in NBA was because of his unwillingness to mix it up under the basket. 

 

[austour]

Walter averaged 28-29 pts in a 3 game playoff series while playing for I believe San Antonio against the Lakers. IMO he did not stick in NBA was because of his unwillingness to mix it up under the basket. 

 

He didn't stick because he wasn't cut out for the structure, discipline and rigors of the NBA. He famously feuded with his coach at San Antone, Larry Brown despite the fact that Larry played him enough to average 17 pts per game but gave up on him after 2 years - or at least I'm assuming that's whey he traded him for Dallas Comegys. Then he was cut by the Nets halfway through his third year in the league. A short stint finishing out that year with Houston and he decided it would be easier to play in Europe (his work ethic was questioned often as well). No one ever said he wasn't a great talent, just not such a good teammate though I believe that changed while he was in Europe as well.

His STJ career was the stuff legends are made of, his NBA career the stuff that brings legends back down to earth.

 

[fun]

He didn't stick because he wasn't cut out for the structure, discipline and rigors of the NBA.

 

[ccnobz]

This is like trying to prove a negative or it is like a double negative. The whole exercise makes my head hurt. :angry:  

 

Bamafan, after tonight's loss to LSU, I imagine your head is hurting even more. (Condolences!) 

 
Thanks it certainly was a tough loss but at this stage of my life I realize you can't win them all and it is great to have Saban and be a contender every year and have perennial top 5 recruiting classes.

 


I admit I was at a bar bombed watching the game( I bet Lsu) , but exactly how bad is your QB? I thought for most of the game Bama outplayed Lsu but Bama's QB was the equalizer. He stunk..... Was he highly recruited?

 

[redken]

This is like trying to prove a negative or it is like a double negative. The whole exercise makes my head hurt. :angry:  

 

Bamafan, after tonight's loss to LSU, I imagine your head is hurting even more. (Condolences!) 

 
Thanks it certainly was a tough loss but at this stage of my life I realize you can't win them all and it is great to have Saban and be a contender every year and have perennial top 5 recruiting classes.

 


I admit I was at a bar bombed watching the game( I bet Lsu) , but exactly how bad is your QB? I thought for most of the game Bama outplayed Lsu but Bama's QB was the equalizer. He stunk..... Was he highly recruited?

 

Forget the 'Bama quarterback ... What about the placekickers? Probably the worst FG kicking I've ever seen by a highly ranked team, or any Division I team for that matter. Given Nick Saban's rep and recruiting acumen, It's simply inexplicable that he ends up with those two guys.